University of California-San Diego Top Questions

What are your classes like?

Daisy

Most of them are large lecture-styled classes, but that tends to be the case for the more popular majors at pretty much any UC you attend. It can be difficult to get individual attention from your professors, but I've always made an effort to get to know my professors personally during office hours, which I would highly recommend for those looking for more than just the lecture experience.

Maria

My classes are both very challenging but fun sometimes. General Education (mandatory) classes tend to be very dull and sometimes very difficult because they may be something you are not comfortable with but once you finish those, things can get interesting. At UCSD you have three different sets of requirements. The first set is UCSD's, it basically states that you have to complete a certain amount of credits to graduate and write a senior thesis. The second set is your college's general education requirements; this may include writing, science or even math (this depends on which college you decide to go to). This section is also divided into lower division classes (taken while you are in freshman or sophomore standing) and upper division classes (junior and above). The last set of requirements is up to you, well it's up to you to decide your major. This is also divided into lower and upper division classes. I'm a psychology major so I have to take mathematics (the subject I am not as skilled) and science before I can take certain upper division classes which focus on actual psychology. So far my classes are kind of irrelevant (in my opinion) to my major so they are a bit of a pain but after I'm done, I will be able to take classes that interests me. Just because you are required to take classes to fulfill college and major requirements however, does not mean you can't take classes just for fun too. I have taken a music class and Japanese because they are of interests of me and I wanted to balance my schedule so I would not be overwhelmed. In case you are wondering the difficulty of classes, I can tell you that they are not that bad if you dedicate enough time to study. It can be difficult to manage time well during your first year but it is doable!.